Courtois supports VAR introduction as Madrid get ready for Ajax test

Thibaut Courtois is a fan of using technology to help out officials ahead of Real Madrid's first Champions League fixture with the involvement of VAR.

UEFA will have a VAR team - consisting of a video assistant referee, an assistant video referee and two video operators - in action for all knockout games in the remainder of this season's competition.

LaLiga introduced the use of video replays for the 2018-19 campaign, so Madrid have experience of playing under such circumstances. It was also used at the 2018 World Cup, where Courtois helped Belgium reach the semi-finals.

The former Chelsea goalkeeper appreciates VAR may not always work in his team's favour, even if Santiago Solari's side appeared to come out on the right end of two close calls in Saturday's away derby against Atletico Madrid.

Real Madrid won the game 3-1 but their rivals felt aggrieved at a penalty awarded for the visitors, before another call saw Atletico miss out on a spot-kick of their own when Alvaro Morata went over after a collision with Casemiro.

"I like it [VAR]. I think we saw in the World Cup it was a good experience with all countries in favour of VAR and it worked well," Courtois told the media. "In Spain, the same thing.

"Sometimes they aren't sure about the rules and when to intervene, it needs to be a mistake, some people don't know this. But in general this is football and it if helps it's good.

"Sometimes it might go against you and the same the other way, so this is fair."

Bidding to be crowned champions of Europe for a fourth successive year, Madrid are in Amsterdam for the first leg of their last-16 tie against Ajax.

Their Dutch opponents qualified behind Bayern Munich from Group E, with talented young duo Frenkie de Jong - who has agreed to join Barcelona at the end of the campaign - and centre-back Matthijs de Ligt catching the eye.

Courtois is also aware of the quality posed by two familiar faces from his time in the Premier League - former Manchester United defender Daley Blind and Dusan Tadic, who joined Ajax from Southampton.

"I think they have a really good team - Blind and Tadic, experienced players and good players, as well as talented young players like De Jong and De Ligt," Courtois said.

"They know how to keep the ball and we have to be careful. I think Ajax have shown in the Champions League they can do really well. They have a good team and qualified for a good reason.

"They will give us a difficult game and we have to be concentrated. Although we have experience, we have to give everything and we will not think it will be an easy game."

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Borussia Dortmund will again be without both Marco Reus and Lukasz Piszczek for Sunday's Bundesliga game against Bayer Leverkusen, head coach Lucien Favre has confirmed.

Reus, struggling with a thigh issue, has been out since the defeat to Werder Bremen on penalties in the DFB-Pokal, while Piszczek has missed the last three games with a heel problem.

Dortmund’s season has threatened to derail in their absence, with three consecutive Bundesliga draws cutting their lead at the top to just three points, while Favre's men lost their Champions League last-16 first leg 3-0 at Tottenham.

And neither Reus nor Piszczek will be back to feature against Leverkusen at Signal Iduna Park.

"Both will not play on Sunday," Favre told a pre-match news conference.

Marius Wolf and Thomas Delaney are also doubts, having not trained with the rest of the team on Friday, but Manuel Akanji is close to full fitness.

Leverkusen are coached by former Dortmund boss Peter Bosz, with BVB sporting director Michael Zorc acknowledging: "When we play against Leverkusen, both clubs know each other very well.

"There are few secrets. This match will depend on which team performs their game the best."

Sergio Aguero hit a hat-trick as the reigning Premier League champions ran riot at the Etihad Stadium earlier this month.

City are also aiming to retain the EFL Cup, which they won with a 3-0 victory over Arsenal last term, but Guardiola feels the motivation for revenge among Maurizio Sarri's under-fire squad will be strong.

"In that moment I was so happy we beat them 6-0. At this moment today, I would prefer not to have won 6-0 against Chelsea," he told a pre-match news conference.

"I don't like to play in a short period of time with one team when you beat them before, I don’t like it too much. In part for us, in part for the opponent.

"They are incredible professional players, they are proud and they will do extra.

"When we lost 2-0 at Stamford Bridge [in December] we could not accept the defeat again here at home.

"It is what it is. We are going to face it mentally as well as possible, play the final and improve the type of games we have to play when we are in finals."

A 2-0 reverse against Manchester United compounded matters for Guardiola's friend and counterpart Sarri, with speculation mounting that the former Napoli boss' job is on the line.

Parallels have been drawn between Chelsea's woes and Guardiola's uneven first campaign in Manchester, but the Catalan feels he benefits from boardroom support denied to Sarri and his predecessors, such as Antonio Conte.

"The situation, I think is a little bit different. In my first year the club never doubted me," he said.

"It was never released in the media that the people are going to sack me if I lose this game or another game. It never happened.

"It surprised me when Conte won the title and they lose one or two games at the start of the next season and people said he was going to be sacked. The situation is completely different.

"My opinion about Sarri and his teams is always high. I reviewed the game against us and people don't believe me but they did incredible things.

"They made mistakes on the first and third goal and Sergio scored an incredible goal. Then it is difficult for the manger and the team, but they did many, many good things.

"I spoke with my staff and they had the same opinion. We were so clinical in that game, the first four or five times we arrived we scored goals."

Chelsea's preparations for Sunday's showpiece were unhelpfully hit by news FIFA have punished the club with a two-window ban on registering new players after they contravened rules relating to the signing of youth footballers.

"In the future, I don't know [what the impact will be] because I am not at Chelsea," Guardiola added. "In terms of the game, not any impact for the players.

"They will be focused and the manger will be focused to win the game against us."

However, he is wary of risking those who are showing signs of fatigue, with a Coupe de France meeting with Dijon and a league game at Caen to come before the Champions League last-16 second leg against Manchester United on March 6.

"Only Neymar and Cavani will be absent. All the others are available," he said. "There is fatigue and some small injuries, but nothing serious.

"[Thomas] Meunier will definitely be back and [Juan] Bernat is available.

"There are some guys who have played six or seven consecutive matches. We must be attentive and take stock with the medical staff and players.